I’ve had several comments and questions about the parking lot that we can see out the door in this picture of Abercrombie. This is, in fact, one of my favorite topics. Although today it seems like something out of the dark, mystical past, it wasn’t really that long ago that we had an abundance of convenient parking places.
I can actually narrow this down pretty well using some aerial shots that I’ve already scanned. The lot doesn’t exist in this 1948 construction photo:
But it does in this shot from 1950:
How long did it exist? I can’t tell from the photos I have on hand but I’ll see what I can find when I get back in the Woodson tomorrow. It clearly got smaller when Herman Brown was built in 1968:
I also can’t resist showing this image that was taken on July 3, 1956. It’s beautifully crisp and it’s also educational–this is a great snapshot not only of the parking lot but also of campus after the immediate postwar construction boom but before the next big wave began in the 1960s. You can see here Anderson, Fondren, Abercrombie, the new gym and, if you zoom in and squint, the president’s house:
Bonus: